


Consent

by ec_writes



Category: Fullmetal Alchemist
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Kisses, Tumblr Prompt, consent to kisses
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-27
Updated: 2016-01-27
Packaged: 2018-05-16 15:35:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 732
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5831119
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ec_writes/pseuds/ec_writes
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>She wonders if he even knows what a kiss is.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Consent

**Author's Note:**

> Another little one-shot to get me back in the swing of writing. Prompt: "Can I kiss you?", requested by Tumblr user, Amozon28.

::

“Can I kiss you?”

She looks to the boy beside her, his stare hard and mouth a thin line. With a tilt of her head, she wonders if he even knows what a kiss is; she’d never seen him receive one before.

“Why?” she asks, and he almost snarls.

“Don’t you want to know what it’s like?” he replies, and she thinks on it, realizing that she does, just a little.

“Okay,” she whispers, and closes her eyes.

His lips touch the skin of her forehead, and her shoulders drop.

“That’s not where you—” she starts, but his dry, cracked mouth meets her with a unintended force, and suddenly she is voiceless.

::

He’s leaving her, and it breaks her heart in a way she never expects.

The sound of mismatched footsteps trail to her doorway, but she does not address them. No, instead she chooses to step outside on her balcony, letting the night wind dry her tear-soaked cheeks as she sniffs.

“Win,” she hears him call, but she pretends not to hear.

“Win, _please_.”

She sighs, and turns to look at the boy she’s known all her life, but now, no longer recognizes. He looks dressed for his own funeral in that black attire, save for the ugly read coat.  His hair is as long as hers, tried haphazardly into a knot-filled braid. She wonders if he’ll be able to manage that wild mane on his own, or if he’ll grow tired of it catching in his metal hand every time he tries to brush it.

“Be mad at me all you want,” he says, voice cracking,“but, promise me you’ll take care of Al while I’m gone.”

Her arms fold across her small chest, and she huffs. “Of course I will. He’s not the idiot going to join the military.”

Her words sting him, but he brushes them off with a scowl. “You know why I need to do this.”

“I know,” she whispers, and her eyes blur with tears once more. “I’m sorry. I just—”

He is suddenly in front of her, his brow furrowed as he rests his flesh hand on her shoulder.

“Stop crying,” he says. “I’ll come back.”

She sniffs again, and wipes her eyes with the ball of her palm. His stare softens as she does so, and it reminds her a moment between them from long ago.

“Winry,” he starts, his cheeks burning, but his eyes drop and he pulls his hand away from her like her skin is fire, choosing to leave her hanging.

Suddenly, she finds herself wishing he had been brave enough to let his mouth burn.

::

She stares hard at the metal of his arm, her fingers moving through wires with the same ease as moving through hair. She pinches one, curiously, and he jumps.

“I can feel that,” he mutters.

“I know,” she responds, a smile growing, and continues working.

A sigh escapes him, and he rolls his head slowly, his eyes shyly meeting hers.

“Are you okay?” she asks, but he doesn’t respond, choosing instead to look at her like the key to his salvation rests in her eyes.

“Can I kiss you?” he mouths, and she wonders if he meant to say it out loud.

“What?” she says, and his face reddens.

“Nothing,” he stammers, and the names of elements begin to fall from his lips, like a mantra.

She wishes he’d have said it louder, so there was no room to question, and mouths to herself, “Yes, you can.”

::

“Can I kiss you?”

Winry smiles at his cautious expression, her fingers lacing around his right hand for what felt like the first time. “You don’t have to ask me. You know the answer.”

“Do I?” he replies. “I’m not risking a wrench to the head.”

She chuckles, and moves to her tiptoes, her breath mingles with his, and she loves that he is no longer afraid to be so close.

“Yes,” she says. “You can. You always could have, you know.”

He smiles as he dips to her, his mouth no longer cracked and dry, but smooth and hungry and promising her all the heartfelt kisses she could ever desire. She presses herself into him, letting her lips tell him without words how much she craves him.

They part, his forehead resting gently against hers, and he laughs. “A shame I didn’t know that years ago.”  

::


End file.
